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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. staff — employees
  3. cap — of ice
  4. tube — a container
  5. hand — in cards
  6. staff — a stick
  7. tube — the underground
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. file — a tool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. staff — employees
  14. file — a document
  15. scale — in music
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cap — a lid
  18. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com